Osborne Clarke advises JLEN on acquisition of Biogas AD plant

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited (JLEN) on the acquisition of an anaerobic digestion (AD) asset, Biogas Meden Limited, for a consideration of £16.2 million which is subject to a post-completion working capital adjustment.

The AD plant is located around 25 miles southeast of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and was commissioned in March 2016. The plant has a thermal capacity of c. 5MWth and predominantly produces biomethane to be injected to the national gas grid.

The plant also has a 0.4 MWe CHP engine and is accredited under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) schemes. The AD plant has been acquired from a subsidiary of BayWa r.e Renewable Energy GmbH. Future Biogas Limited will provide management, operations and maintenance services to the AD plants after the acquisition.

JLEN now has a portfolio of six AD projects and the total capacity of the renewable energy assets in the JLEN investment portfolio now stands at 279.4 MW.

The Osborne Clarke team was led by corporate Partner Adam Love and Energy and Utilities Sector Leader and Partner James Watson. Adam and James were assisted by corporate Associate Jonny Gait, Construction Partner Carl Thompson and other members of the Osborne Clarke real estate, projects and tax teams.

JLEN is a respected client of Osborne Clarke and this is the fourth AD acquisition the team have advised JLEN on, having acted on its successful acquisition of Merlin in August 2018 and two AD plants in July 2018.

Osborne Clarke has an established and well-respected position as one of the leading law firms advising on renewable energy projects and transactions. For over 20 years, it has helped clients to seize new opportunities and meet the challenges of making energy generation clean, affordable and secure. The combination of the team’s experience and understanding of the energy sector means they are regularly called upon to support businesses on all aspects of their commercial, regulatory, corporate, finance and construction legal needs.